Thurs. March 11. [11 March 1909] No, these are the Jerifa (pl Jeraif).
They are mostly on the other bank but a few tents have crossed over
to this side. I took with me two horsemen 'Affan and Murawwah - one
did not dare to come alone because this country is swept by raids of
the Jezid and Shammar. We were all off at 6.55. Presently we were
joined by a great sheikh on a camel with a man riding behind him - I
had seen him at Abu Kemal [Abu Kamal] and he was no other than
Jid'an ibn Huddal cousin of Fahd the Sheikh of the 'Amarat. He had
come over from the Shamiyyeh [Shamiyah] on account of a murder -
one of the Jeraif had murdered one of the 'Amarat and Jid'an came to
get the man killed or blood money paid. He was riding a delul. He
had slept in 'Affan's tent and I much regretted I had not known he was
there. He left us when we reached Balijah, a corn land where there
were tents of the Jeraif. We got there at 7.50 and at 7.30 we had seen
a mound of the same name with Islam graves on it. We rode now
some distance from the river and at 10.30 (going back to the river) got
to the Ziarah of Sultan 'Abdullah, quite new. Somewhere here is
Jabariyyeh with ruins but it must be just below the Mazar and I missed
it for K. [Kiepert] puts it opposite to Kal'at Rafidah - we were opposite
that at 10.50 and when I heard we had passed Jabariyyeh I had not
heart to go back, it was so hot. We left the caravan again and rode a
long way riverwards to see Kal'at Balak which the Arabs call Er
Retajah. We got there at 12.5 and found nothing but a square fort of
sundried bricks with round towers at the angles and in the walls, all
falling down and I think comparatively modern. On the top of the bluff
over the river near the fort there is the remains of stone and mortar
building of the same date I think as the fort. The situation is
magnificent. The river curves all round and turns it almost into an
island. K marks it Belesibiblada. I saw no old ruins. We left at 12.35
and rode along the river under the rocks and into the next great bend
where we sighted the baggage. 'Affan wanted to camp opposite En
Nehiyyeh [Nahiyah, An] and sent Murawwah after the animals to bring
them back to the river, but I refused to do this as we shd have had so
far to go tomorrow, so we galloped after them, caught them up at 2
o'clock and sent them straight on over the hills. It was a very long
way. Soon after 4 we sighted the river again. The great bend was set
with Nuwa'ir but there were no people or villages. We rode on till we
came to the first Na'ourah and corn patch and then camped, the
baggage getting up at 4.40 - 93/4 hours through very hot weather.
Everyone contented however. The old man of yesterday who used to
carry the post has walked with us and will dine with us. He has a bullet
in his cheek which he refuses to have extracted. He goes to his
people near Baghdad. The talk today was all of ghazu. 'Affan says
they sometimes go 4 days without water when they are raiding. They
have carried off cattle and mules from the J. Sinjar [Sinjar, Jabal].
They also talk much of the Russian (?) woman who married Haza ibn
Murshid of the Sba' last year, taking him out of his prison in Hama
[Hamah]. Subsequently I believe she left him and went to Japan. Our
camping place is called El 'Ajmiyyeh - the corn belongs to someone
in 'Ana ['Anah]. It is watched over by a man and his son and another.
They have no house but make themselves a shelter in the ground,
roofing it with bushes when it rains. When the harvest is over they
return to 'Ana. The river is washing out stones and disclosing walls -
at the other end of the corn patch there are sirdab and bones he says.
There must have been a town here. The great Na'oura, 4 wheels,
grinds with a soothing sound. A palm grows by it. I asked my 2 Arabs
if they had heard of Hurriyyeh. Yes, they had heard of it and did not
know what it meant. I said it meant a just rule, but they know nothing of
rule. They have a legend about Er Retajah - that it belonged to a lady
called Ba'leh bint er Retajah and all the country here was hers.
'Abdullah was with Oppenheim at Tell el Halaf. Temp 68? 1/2 hour
after sunset. Blue irises and starch hyacinths.